Climate

The annual climate ranges from months of dry temperate weather during winter to humid
subtropical weather interspersed with drier periods of hot weather during summer. In summer,
which lasts from October to March, temperatures rise to about 93 °F (34 °C) in the extreme north
and southwest, the warmest parts of the country. In winter, which lasts from April to September,
there is frequent frost at night, and temperatures may fall to near freezing in some high-altitude
areas during the day. Summer is heralded by a windy season, the winds carrying dust from the
Kalahari, from about late August to early October. Annual rainfall, brought by winds from the
Indian Ocean, averages 18 inches (460 mm), representing a range from 25 inches (635 mm) in
the extreme northeast to less than 5 inches (127 mm) in the extreme southwest. The rains are
almost entirely limited to summer downpours between December and March, which also mark
the season for plowing and planting. Cyclic droughts, often lasting up to five or six years in
every two decades, can limit or eliminate harvests and reduce livestock to starvation.